The Fall of Tenpenny Tower
by EvilProduct
Summary: Short series of one-shots. Follows the Lone Wanderer's adventures in Tenpenny Tower during the timeline of my previous Fallout fic. I do not own anything about Fallout. Next chapter: Til Death Do We Part. On Hiatus.


**Daring Dashwood**

**Tenpenny Tower – 5 Months after leaving Vault 101**

Tenpenny was a stuck up asshole in my opinion. This shit-hole he calls a home is just a byproduct of his lifestyle. There were a lot of guards in the place for sure. If I wanted to get Crowley's key from Tenpenny, I'd have to work my way around them. Crowley's paying me extra to kill the old bastard, so they would definitely be ticked off with me if I carried that out. I needed a drink. There's a bar on the bottom floor, maybe I can get a drink there.

The bar was called 'The Federalist Lounge'. The bartender was a Protectron robot named Shakes. They didn't have any Nuka-Cola, so I ordered a bottle of whiskey and slapped down some caps to pay. He set down a glass as well, and I threw down a couple more caps to buy that as well. I downed a few sips.

"Careful boy." said the man to my left. "Irradiated whiskey can be deadly in large enough doses." The man was much older than me and had a white beard. His voice cracked with age and his skin was wrinkled and darkened.

"I usually stick to Nuka-Cola, but you don't seem to have it here." I replied to him. He turned in his seat to look at me.

"Yeah, Tenpenny thinks liquor is a true man's drink. He doesn't allow Nuka-Cola in the tower."

"He just loves banning things from his tower doesn't he?" I expected the man to say something prejudice against ghouls or that man Phillips I had seen outside. But he surprised me and spoke with kindness.

"It's cruel isn't it?" he asked. "All that man Phillips wants is for his people to be accepted. He wants to help them and give them shelter, but our benevolent benefactor won't let him."

"You side with Roy?" I asked.

"Any friend of the ghouls is a friend of mine." The man set down his glass and out stretched his hand. "Herbert Dashwood, pleased to meet you." I set down my glass like he had and shook his hand.

"Herbert Dashwood?" I said. "'Daring' Dashwood?"

"That's the name they give me."

"John Lone." I didn't really know why I withholding my name from everyone. Maybe it was the Legend of the Lone Wanderer stopping me. If he had a name, then he was reduced from fiction into fact. Maybe if I was John Lone, I didn't have to be the Lone Wanderer, and the legend could grow. Nonetheless, I lied about my name to Dashwood, when he was being so honest with me.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Lone. What brings you to Tenpenny Tower?" he asked. I'm here to kill the man who owns this building and steal a key to give to a man I plan to kill who hopes the key will lead him to a suit of armor I plan to steal before he can get there. But why would I tell Dashwood that?

"Looking for work wherever a wastelander can find it. Tenpenny hired me for something, hasn't told me what yet."

"Let me guess, Burke recruited you for some 'upcoming project'. Then he brought you here to meet with Tenpenny, but they're withholding details on what he project is. Am I right?" It seemed like Burke had a pattern. I wonder if he'd done this type of thing before. How much of the Capital Wasteland had Alistair Tenpenny rendered in his image? At least my lie fit.

"Have you worked for him before?" I asked.

"One time before. It earned me a place in the tower." I'd like more details, but I really didn't care. I was more interested in the fact that I was sitting next to Herbert 'Daring' Dashwood, star of his own GNR radio show.

"So you're the famous Herbert 'Daring' Dashwood?"

"Yep, I see you've heard the radio play. 'The Adventures of Herbert Daring Dashwood and his Stalwart Ghoul manservant Argyle', the chronicles of my…earlier days."

"Yeah, I've heard it. I bet you've had some pretty exciting adventures then?" I don't see how his were any better than mine, but hey, this was me being nice to someone.

"I bet I have." His words were distant and longing. He was sad reflecting, and I could plainly see it.

"Something wrong?" I asked him.

"I'm sorry." He downed a sip of his brandy before speaking again. "I was just thinking about Argyle. We didn't exactly part well. I gave up adventuring shortly after I was separated from him."

"What happened?"

"Well, years ago, Argyle and I were working on a cross-wasteland expedition to try mapping the area out. We wanted to help re-establish society by at least reuniting them on one single map." It was a noble cause, but foolish. The wastes are too dangerous for two men to brave by themselves, especially when only one has combat experience.

"Well, I met a woman named Penelope Chase. She…seduced me." He was obviously ashamed of that. "Argyle, Penelope, and I went to Rockopolis to add them to our map. But once we got there, Penelope revealed herself to be a traitor. She was the leader of the slavers at Paradise Falls at the time." Ah, Paradise Falls. What happy memories I have from there. Maybe one day I can get Eulogy Jones back for what he did to Ted Strayer. It was one of Eulogy's drug dealers who gave Ted his final dose of Psycho, and someday he would pay.

"Penelope turned on us and let her slavers take the populace from Rockopolis. Argyle retaliated and killed Penelope." I remembered the particular broadcast. According to Galaxy News, Argyle tore Chase's heart out with his bare hands. I'd inquire about the truth of that later.

"The slavers destroyed Rockopolis and a cave-in occurred. I was separated form Argyle in my escape. I never saw him again."

"That's terrible." I said. "I wonder what happened to him."

"I wonder that every day. Oh, how I miss him so. He was more than a manservant to me, he was my friend." I eyed my drink. I hadn't gotten a chance to take a sip since I had started talking to Dashwood. Now I needed one. I downed the entire glass, and I couldn't discern the whiskey burn from the radiation burn.

"Where was this Rockopolis?" I asked.

--

**Smith Casey's Garage – 5 Months after leaving Vault 101**

Dashwood had said Rockopolis was due west of here. I had to put down a few mole rats before I could accurately plot out a course, but that was just something a wastelander had to get used to. The dirty garage was not the ideal place to sleep in, but there was a relatively clean mattress behind a counter that I slept in for the night.

I remembered this place. The hatch in the floor of the garage lead to Vault 112, otherwise known as Tranquility Lane, also known as the place my father was imprisoned a few weeks ago. I missed him, and the moment he died haunted my dreams every night. One day, I would find Colonel Autumn and I would kill him for what he did to my father.

But for now, I was roaming the wasteland as the Brotherhood of Steel gathered their forces and repaired Liberty Prime to ready him for battle at the Jefferson Memorial. The Enclave would fall in time, and it would fall in my father's name.

Rockopolis was only a mile or two from Smith Casey's Garage. It was once a hidden underground village. The inhabitants would only allow outsiders in if they presented a secret knock. Now it was blocked off by fallen rocks. I had to push a large one out of the way to actually gain entrance.

What once was Rockopolis was now nothing more than a sealed cave with a small campsite, presumable left by passing travellers who managed to gain entrance. I saw things like a motorcycle, a dresser, a couch, and a few torches. They were soaked in gasoline and only a small match from me was needed to light one. Once I had the place well lit, I found what I was looking for.

Argyle was lying on the floor in a small area in the back of the cave. I struggled to move into the crack to inspect the body. Argyle's body still hadn't fully decomposed. I bet when he was with Dashwood, he wasn't that much of a ghoul. Judging by the fact that his body looked much like my friend Gob in Megaton, his ghoulishness would only have been small for today's standards. Whatever the reason, his body was still intact…somewhat.

I had promised Dashwood I would tell him of Argyle's fate. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but this was different for me. From what I had heard, Dashwood was a good man, who's only mistake was giving into the charms of a woman, and Argyle was his faithful friend and companian. Oh man, this is gonna suck.

--

**Tenpenny Tower – 5 Months after leaving Vault 101**

Dashwood was right where I left him. He sat at the bar, truly indifferent to the people around him. Fellow tenants of the Tower walked past me out of the Lounge. I could see their hatred of me in their eyes. They knew I was consorting with ghouls, or at least suspected it. They hated me for it. Dashwood seemed to be the only good natured man in the Tower. I ignored the pompous asshole passing me and sat down beside Dashwood.

"Mr. Lone." He announced. "It's good to see you again."

"Hello Herbert." I replied. I turned to Shakes the Protectron. "Three shots of whiskey, Shakes." Shakes poured the drinks and sat them down. I slid one shot glass to Dashwood and kept two for myself.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"You're going to want to drink it." I downed one of my shots. There's the indescernible burning again.

"I'm more partial to brandy Mr. Lone." He said.

"I found Argyle." Just saying it made it a bit easier. Tear off the band-aid, it'll only hurt for a second.

"Argyle?" he said. "You found Argyle? What happened to him after Rockopolis?"

"He never left Rockopolis." I said. "He's still there. He's dead."

"Dead…?" he muttered. "Oh no…" He caught sight of the whiskey shot. He downed it quickly. His face clenched up; he felt the burning too. I patted him on the back.

"Enjoy the burn." I toild him. "It reminds you that you're still alive."

"What happened to Argyle?" I sucked down my second shot. I had to cough a bit, clearing my sinuses, which irradiated whiskey was great for by the way.

"How badly was Argyle…ghoulified, for lack of a better term?" I felt like an idiot asking that.

"Not as bad as the ones you see today are. That man Phillips, is much more of a ghoul than Argyle. No, Argyle's ghoulishness was more like a bad skin rash. He was more of a leper than anything, but he was still classified as a ghoul."

"Well, it seems to have caught up with him." When I found him, he was a full ghoul. Judging from the amount of decomposition, I'd say he died within the last few years, probably of starvation. Although I did see an infected leg wound, most likely from a bullet wound. I can't really tell how he died, but he never left Rockopolis."

Dashwood was stunned. He really had hoped Argyle was alive. But he knew this would always be a possibility. He just missed his friend.

"My god, I always thought he'd outlive me by at least 100 years. Poor bastard. But…thank you. Thank you for telling me. At least now I know. At least now the poor guy can catch a breather."

"You're welcome." It's been a while since I've been able to sincerely say that to someone.

"I'd like to repay your kindness." He added. "Please, if there's anything I can do for you, name it."

"Thank you. But I'm afraid I don't have any requests at the moment. If I think of something, I promise I'll find you."

"Thank you Mr. Lone. Thank you." He offered his hand once more to me, and I accepted it happily. There were tears in his eyes. As I got up to leave, I suddenly remembered something else.

"Oh, before I go. I have a gift for you."

"Oh?" he asked. I moved closer to him and reached into my jacket. I slipped him something before I turned and walked away.

Herbert looked down at the object. It was a bottle of Nuke-Cola with a note wrapped around it. He read the small sentence I had written on it and smiled.

_Found this with Argyle. What's a rule if you can't break it once in a while? – The Lone Wanderer._


End file.
